Dr. Asa Conch is portrayed in this albumen cabinet card, made at E. W. Bogardus's studio at 349 Sixth Avenue, near Twenty-Second Street, New York. The inscription on the reverse dates the sitting to October 22, 1883, at which time the subject was noted as 50 years of age, placing his birth in 1833. Bogardus was among the most prominent portrait photographers in New York during the latter half of the nineteenth century, operating continuously from the 1850s onward.

The subject is shown in three-quarter profile facing left, wearing a double-breasted dark wool suit with wide notched lapels and a matching waistcoat beneath. A white dress shirt and dark cravat are visible at the collar, and a thin watch chain crosses his chest. His thick, swept-back hair is dramatically silver at the temples, and a full dark mustache frames a serious, composed expression.

The printed verso carries the ornate Bogardus studio imprint incorporating a camera, artist's palette, and rays of sunlight surrounding a monogram medallion, with the note "Negative preserved, Duplicates can be had at any time."

The reverse bears a handwritten inscription reading "Dr. Asa Conch" with the notation "Oct 22, 83 / 50 yrs."

From the collection of James Lee Soffer